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Setback to BJP prime ministerial candidate's propaganda? WikiLeaks "never said" Modi was incorruptible

By Rajiv Shah |
In a series of tweets from its Twitter account, the official WikiLeaks has said that Julian Assange, Australian publisher and journalist, who is editor-in-chief and founder of WikiLeaks, never submitted that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi was incorruptible. Releasing an explosive piece of information by digging out the tweets, a Gujarat-based website run by a prominent anti-Modi advocate, Mukul Sinha, has said that with these tweets, Modi’s lie that the US called him an incorruptible politician stands “completely exposed.”
Known to publish submissions of secret information, news leaks and classified media from anonymous news sources and whistleblowers, the website alleged, Modi and his supporters indulged in “their cheap misleading propaganda”, adding, “In fact, WikiLeaks not only demolished the Julian Assange endorsement, but they also completely rubbished Modi’s original claim that America had admitted he’s incorruptible.”
On March 16, 2014, WikiLeaks(@wikileaks) said “@shashiapj #Assange has never spoken about #Modi in any manner whatsoever. US docs we published say both good and bad things about #Modi.” Yet another tweet on the same day says, “Narenda Modi's #BJP has been pushing this fake #Modi endorsement http://t.co/kyryXQpmht – but #Assange has never said anything about #Modi.” Further, on the same day, it said, “#India: How #Modi supporters aggressively pushed fake #Assange endorsement (scroll down to last week and beyond) https://t.co/VtS2vWyEGf.”
The website says, “In the above tweets, WikiLeaks clearly state that Assange has never said anything about Modi being incorruptible and it’s a completely fake propaganda by Modi and his bhakts. They go on to tweet that Modi’s original propaganda that America has admitted that he’s incorruptible is baseless as well.”
On March 16, again, WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) said, “#India: No WikiLeaks document say #Modi is 'incorruptable', rather he is popular because 'viewed' as 'incorruptable' https://t.co/leCkQ8PNSK.” Further, “The Narenda #Modi "incorruptable" quote comes from Rajkot Congress party leader Manoharsinh Jadej: https://t.co/leCkQ8PNSK #bjp #india.” The website claimed, the diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks actually consists of a quote by Mahoharsinh Jadeja. WikiLeaks had said:
“Rajkot Congress party leader Manoharsinh Jadeja said ‘Modi’s accomplishments are undeniable,’ and admitted that the Congress would make little headway against the BJP in Gujarat anytime soon. Modi is extremely popular, Jadeja said, and even Muslims are now supporting him to some extent because he isviewed as someone who is completely incorruptible and can deliver the goods.”
The website underlines, “So the most misleading and unethical propaganda was actually started by Narendra Modi. He claimed on his website that ‘America admits Modi is incorruptible’ while the diplomatic cable was clearly a quote of a Gujarat Congress leader who stated that ‘he is viewed as someone who is completely incorruptible’, the operative word being ‘viewed’. BJP’s official volunteers took it a step further and attributed ‘Modi is incorruptible’ claim to Julian Assange.”
Saying that the propaganda on the basis of twisting what really WikiLeaks expose had said, the website believes, this is “not surprising at all”, adding, “In fact, that’s the very basis of their election campaigning – how to portray a Vinash Purush as a Vikas Purush.” It all beban on
March 22, 2011, when, after a lecture at Pandit Deen Dayal University at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Narendra Modi proudly announced, “America has shown me incorruptible. There are many non- corrupt people, but they have termed me incorruptible, which is good for the people of Gujarat. Wikileaks shows two faces – that of the Government of India and another of progressive Gujarat.”
The website says, on the basis of WikiLeaks publishing a classified US cable dated November 2, 2006, sent by Michael S Owen, the then Consul General in Mumbai, referred extensively to Narendra Modi. "It was this cable that Narendra Modi was gloating about and claimed that America has admitted that he’s incorruptible. Modi’s personal website narendramodi.in was also promptly updated. Modi’s website claims that America admits he’s incorruptible”, it underlined.
More recently, according to the website, “Modi-appointed volunteers who are part of the Mission272+ team, put an entirely different spin to this. They started attributing the statement that ‘Modi is incorruptible’ directly to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. They started distributing images of Julian Assange with the quote ‘America fears Modi because they know that he is incorruptible’ with Assange’s signature to go with. One such image was tweeted by an official BJP representative => Operations In-charge, National Digital Operations Centre of Modi’s Mission 272 team, Prasanna Kathik.”
Meanwhile, the BJP has reacted sharply to the website’s expose, with its spokesperson Mukhtat Abbas Naqvi saying, "The nation does not need a certificate from Julian Assange or Wikileaks about Modi, and neither does Modi to win the elections. What the people want is just good governance." He added, "We have not asked for their certificate nor do they need to give us any. People have made it clear that they want Modi to win as they want good and stable governance which can take the country on the path of progress."

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